1. Type regedit in RUN or Start Menu search box and press Enter. It'll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

    HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}\ShellFolder

3. Now you'll need to change value of "Attributes" DWORD value present in the right-side section. But Windows will not allow you to change its value as you won't have proper permissions.

To get permissions, first right-click on "ShellFolder" key and select "Permissions".

Change_Permissions_for_ShellFolder_.png

It'll open a new window. Select "Administrators" in user list and check "Allow" box given for "Full Control" permission.

Permissions_for_ShellFolder_Key_Cha.png

Click on OK button to apply the changes.

4. Now double-click on "Attributes" DWORD value given in right-side section and change its value to a9400100

5. That's it. Log off or restart your system and "Favorites" will no longer present in Explorer window.

NOTE: If you want to restore "Favorites" in Navigation pane, simply change value of "Attributes" DWORD to a0900100 using step 4.

To remove Favorites, change this registry value:

      [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}\ShellFolder]

      "Attributes"=dword:a9400100

To restore Favorites to its default setting (i.e., so it shows):

      [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{323CA680-C24D-4099-B94D-446DD2D7249E}\ShellFolder]

      "Attributes"=dword:a0900100

To remove Libraries, change this registry value:

      [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}\ShellFolder]

      "Attributes"=dword:b090010d

To restore Libraries to its default setting (i.e., so it shows):

      [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5}\ShellFolder]

      "Attributes"=dword:b080010d

To remove Homegroup (and stop Homegroup networking functionality):

    Go to Control Panel -> Network and Sharing Center -> HomeGroup, and click on Leave the homegroup link to unjoin from any existing home group.

    Note: If the home group are shared and hosted from the PC, all HomeGroup connections will be disconnected.

    Click on Leave the homegroup and confirm.  In the future, if you want to use Homegroup networking you can create a homegroup using this same dialog.

    Go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Administrative Tools, and double click on Services. Alternatively, type services.msc in Start Search.

    For each of the following two services:

    HomeGroup Listener

    HomeGroup Provider

    Do the following:

    Stop the service, and then double click on the service to open Properties dialog, and set its Startup type to Disabled. Click OK when done.  In order to reinstate Homegroup functionality in the future, you will want to set the Startup type back to Manual.

    The HomeGroup icon and group will no longer be shown in the navigation pane of Windows Explorer in Windows 7.  Note that this does not interrupt "traditional" windows networking functionality (e.g., Map Network Drive